SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts launches battery grade cobalt sulfate and lithium spodumene assessments

S&P Global Platts has launched a weekly Battery Grade Cobalt Sulfate CIF North Asia assessment and a monthly Lithium Spodumene FOB Australia assessment on January 3, 2019.

Platts is assessing Battery Grade Cobalt Sulfate CIF North Asia prices on a weekly basis every Thursday, or the nearest prior working day, and Lithium Spodumene FOB Australia on a monthly basis on the last working day of the month. The first Lithium Spodumene FOB Australia assessment will be published on January 31. Both assessments are timestamped at 4:30 pm Singapore time.

Platts is assessing cobalt sulfate with a 20.5% cobalt content and lithium spodumene with a 6% lithium oxide content. All origins and qualities of cobalt sulfate and lithium spodumene are considered, but may be normalized to Platts base standards. Price Points for the Cobalt Sulfate CIF North Asia assessment are drawn from key importing ports in China, Japan and South Korea, while key exporting ports in Western Australia are taken into consideration for the Lithium Spodumene FOB Australia assessment.

Payment terms are on a letter of credit basis for both assessments.

Minimum volume for the lithium spodumene assessment is 1,000 mt, while standard tonnage for cobalt sulfate is between 5 mt and 150 mt. Other volumes will be normalized according to Platts standards.

For cobalt sulfate CIF North Asia the delivery window under assessment is 15 to 60 days from the date of publication, while for lithium spodumene FOB Australia the export window is within of 30 days from the date of publication.

Unit & currency of measurement will be US dollars per metric ton.

The weekly cobalt sulfate assessment carries the code BATCO04, with BATCO03 for the monthly average and BATCO05 for the quarterly average. These assessments are published on Platts Metals Alert, page 8890 and in Metals Daily. The monthly lithium spodumene assessment carries the code BATSP03. This assessment is published on Platts Metals Alert, page 8888 and in Metals Daily.

Please send all questions and feedback to battery_metals@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spgobal.com.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.